Cloaks
by Cellist-love
Summary: Hermione watched in silence as a blue cloak spun, blonde hair spilling from a tight bun. The shadows upon the walls flickered, mocking her brief failure. And how her heart beat, and how her breath hitched in rhythm. Fleur/Hermione.
1. Chapter 1

Contrary to popular belief, i am still here. New story, i might even update it. Holidays are coming up if that is any indication of free time. I might even update my old stuff, who knows. This hasn't been beta'd or really read over more than once. If the mistakes are there then they're there, don't fret. A misplaced comma won't impregnate you.

disclaimer: the cool kids don't admit failure.

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The spoon had made thirteen clockwise rotations within the bowl, slowly it was lifted from the murky liquid before being tipped to the side letting the broth fall back into the bowl. Hermione let out a soft sigh, allowing her free hand to support her head. It was not that she was alone, no it was far from that. Hermione sat on a busily chatting table in an even louder hall. A girl with a mop of flaming hair had been speaking to her animatedly for the past ten minutes, obviously too taken by her own words to notice Hermione's distance. A loud thump resonated to the left of the room, as a line of blue-clad girls in uniform began to walk – no, they were certainly not walking, their legs moved too swiftly, too lightly across the floor. The girls were most definitely gliding.

But Hermione didn't care for girls in blue, even ones that held an element of dance to their stride. Her eyes fell back to the soup, the spoon now submerged wholly into the concoction. It had been far too long since she felt any sort of appetite. Bouillabaisse? Hermione frowned into the soup, wondering momentarily if it had just spoken to her.

"Gorgeous." Suddenly broke her spell, the hall's buzz now becoming words and conversations around her. Blinking she looked up and noticed blue. The girl was looking down, a cleverly sloping hat concealing her face. A lilt chuckle began to reverberate and the hat moved, revealing the most perfectly shaped features Hermione had ever seen. Her breath caught in her throat as the girl in blue stopped her expression of amusement. Eyes - still twinkling in mirth met her own, two pale pink lips parting perfectly to reveal pearl-like teeth. Hermione became aware of thudding, deep, melodic thumps that began in her chest and echoed throughout her head. The girl continued to hold her gaze, shifting only slightly to push silver strands of hair away from her face.

"Blimey." Once again Hermione blinked. The gaze lost and a bowl of soup was gingerly passed from the rough fingers of the boy beside her. The girl thanked him with a swift nod and flicked her lips up in one more smile before turning around and retreating to the next table. The rest of the conversation was just as tuned out, but for far different reasons. When a boy with soft eyes and a messy black hair touched her arm in concern, her smile and reason was all too cliché. The library she spoke, and at once made her leave. The library however, was the furthest from her real destination.

The sky above the lake crackled in glee; flashes of white darting, sinking, falling into the lake in jagged patterns. Hermione stood under the cover of an oak tree, a bright red cloak wrapped firmly around her body. With the hood drawn she looked about to meet the wolf for a discussion about grandma, but Hermione knew that thoughts like that would not achieve anything. Keeping in mind that at Hogwarts, this wasn't that obscure of an idea. The rain, fell in an uneven drizzle, but charms were made for such situations and Hermione sat bone dry. The hood was eventually pulled back and tamed hair fell between smooth shoulders. Another thing that bothered the girl - the amount of attention that can be drawn with a little dental work and hair charms. The amount of friends that can be drawn with a little beauty.

Footsteps echoed behind her, crunching on thin leaves and treading them into the dirt. A green cloaked figure sat beside her, a soft hand seeking her own.

"Hello Draco." Hermione whispered, keeping her eyes trained on the night sky.

"Hermione." He replied, giving her hand a little squeeze.

"You didn't give me any signal at dinner, I just had to assume you lied to Potty." Hermione smiled at this, her eyes training on the boy beside her. He truly was handsome, it was ignorant of Ron and Harry to deny such things. Such perfect alabaster skin, sharply slicked back hair and dazzling eyes.

He reminded her of blue.

"I was a bit distracted." She finally replied, scooting closer to let a strong arm encompass her shoulders. Green and red fabrics overlapped, such a rarity in the old school's eyes and yet, it seemed to be a nightly thing between the two.

"Her name is Fleur." Draco drawled, a foreign accent taking over his pronunciation.

"What?" Hermione quipped, albeit a bit too quickly to carry the nonchalance she was hoping for.

"The girl, don't be silly. I know when my little lion sees a pretty bird." Draco's smile was languid and perfect, his eyes catching Hermione's in understanding. "You should go speak to her, she's in the library looking for you." Hermione visibly jumped. Draco chuckled and leant over to place a warm kiss on her cheek. She stood and said goodbye with her eyes, a hood was drawn once more, footsteps heavy down the path.

Draco leaned back and sighed, lips quivering from where they'd met her cheek.

"Fuck." He whispered, and as if the night understood, the wind grew a little quieter and the rain a little softer.

Hermione slunk through the library, the bookcases offering coverage from Madam Pince's gaze. There, by the door. Blue. The shadows that splayed up the walls in flame licked patterns, shrunk as she grew closer. Her hand fell on the small of a warm back, the figure spun. Eyes met once again, the gentle thud returned and a hand was forgotten on shapely hips.

"'ermione." She spoke. Fleur, flower. Hermione's mind reeled, the distance between them was growing smaller and the girl's scent peeled off her in waves of earthy charm. How beautiful she was, how her skin glowed under the dusky lamps of the library. Hermione's lips tilted in a smile that spoke more power than the most saintly of preachers.

How their bodies were pressed against one another, a red cloak pushed against musty tomes before pooling at her feet. As their heads tilted to the respective sides, and their lips grew closer – how her body tingled in ripples of bliss.

After the briefest of a touch, a light groan elicited from French lips.

And Hermione stood.

"_What?" _was whispered, the Frenchwoman continued to smile. The cloak still sat snugly around her back, her hand still on the hip.

"'ermione? Zat ees your name, non?" Fleur's eyebrow arched in curiosity, the girl before her's face registering a look of utter disbelief.

"It didn't happen." She whispered, her eyes downcast. Fleur continued to patiently wait, her own confusion masked by a veil of placid elegance.

"I apologise, I am not feeling the best." Her hand, long fallen from hips (was it there to begin with?) was suddenly taken by another.

"Unteel next time, oui?" A kiss was placed, and a tingle born.

Hermione watched in silence as a blue cloak spun, blonde hair spilling from a tight bun. The shadows upon the walls flickered, mocking her brief failure.

And how her heart beat, and how her breath hitched in rhythm.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was freezing, a blizzard had come overnight and the halls of Hogwarts were battling the cold with various heat charms. Hermione sat curled in her bed, various blankets forming a cocoon around her. Classes had been canceled due to the weather and students were warned not to leave the dormitories. The young witch thought this odd but was certainly not one to complain about school policies. Beside her head sat a book on mythical creatures, a class she was sure to drop next year. The pages were being flicked to and fro by the wind that was blowing - despite the windows being shut. It could have been a ghost, she reasoned, if that was the case then she pitied the poor spirit that found so much entertainment in turning pages. Colour caught her eye and Hermione's hand stretched out to fall on the page in a soft 'thwoomp'. Eerily, the wind stopped blowing. The page was an excerpt on extinct dragons that used to create chaos through their wild storms. It had been thousands of years since one was spotted and even then, it was by a tribe of Witches and Wizards that would have made Luna Lovegood look rational.

Hermione began to feel nervous in the Dormitory's silence, it was as if Neville Longbottom had asked out Parvarti and was waiting for a reply. All the draperies on the beds were drawn, leaving Hermione to presume that the other girls were still asleep. But then wouldn't Parvarti be snoring and Lavender sleep-muttering about various boys? Her eyes turned back to the page and began to scan it, after reading the passage and admiring the skill of whoever had drawn the vibrant picture she closed the book and rolled over. A loud sigh was released and a delicate hand ran through soft hair. The idea of sleep was becoming more and more of a good idea and before she knew it, slumber had taken her once more.

Tap.

Tap.

Crack.

Hermione sat up, the wind inside the room had started to violently whip around. The fabric closing off her bed begun to sway before being viciously ripped off and sucked straight out the open window. The young witch scrambled for her wand, snatching it from the bedside table and pointing it at the window.

"Reparo!" She screamed. Silence. With wide eyes and a shaky hand she reached back over to return her wand. However, there seemed to be an obstructing lump. Hermione's grip tightened around her wand as she began to slowly manoeuvre off the bed. Suddenly she screamed, the further she moved away the closer it wiggled under the blankets. A few quick scrambles later she found herself to have fallen headfirst onto the floor. A noise of something dropping landed next to her and she gasped. There, sitting almost giddily on the floor beside her was a baby silver and blue speckled dragon.

"Dra-Dra-Dra." She stuttered, her stomach twisting in and out of knots. The dragon continued to stare at her with it's big black eyes, slowly it began to pull itself closer to the girl. Too weak to walk, it's two front legs remained inert as it's back pair pushed and scrambled to make a small progression across the floorboards. Taking note of it's weakness, Hermione began to breathe normally once more, it was just a baby dragon. Much smaller than crookshanks, no bigger than a normal cat. The dragon was now close enough to touch her, soon it began to tentatively paw at her stomach. Hermione grinned and relaxed into the touch, after a few moments the beast pushed up her shirt with it's snout and tried desperately to wiggle underneath.

With one hand supporting the creature's weight, Hermione stood and noticed the odd situation before her. There she was, standing in a pair of happy hippopotamus pyjama pants and shirt, with a dragon nestled against her chest. The room was still trashed with the girls still amazingly unperturbed. But such a thought didn't occur to Hermione, for someone with a Dragon between their breasts does not think of obviously peculiar things like that. Before leaving the dormitory, she pulled the creature from under her shirt and got changed into proper attire. After donning a pair of grey skinny jeans, a red turtleneck, black scarf and two black boots she walked quietly outside. The halls were deserted, mist coming from outside drifted in through the wall's cracks and floated across the floors. Hermione began to think her situation over more carefully, she was in possession of a seemingly harmless dragon. She also was secretly best friends with a boy who loved dragons and hoped to tame them after graduation. The prospect of showing him such a beast would probably make his day, and so, at the turn for Dungeons she made a hard left and waltzed up to the portrait.

Salazar Slytherin glared at her heavily, lifting his nose in discontent. Her sweater began to wiggle and a little head popped out from the bottom, startling the painting quite admirably. Hermione snickered.

"Serpent's tongue." She proclaimed, with a final scowl he swung open and she gladly – albeit awkwardly climbed through. The common room was deserted as she expected, a quick illusionment charm was placed and Hermione or 'miscellaneous Slytherin girl' began to ascend the fourth year boys stairs. The scene was much like the Gryffindor girl's dormitory, apart from the room being remarkably clean and entirely green and silver. As she ripped back the curtains she noticed Draco was sleeping rather oddly. The blanket was strewn to the side of the bed and his arms and legs were by his side and perfectly straight. Hermione quickly removed the charm and placed her wand back in her side pocket.

"Draco!" She shouted, grabbing the boy's arm with one hand to give him a shake. The boy didn't stir, choosing to remain quite shirtless and asleep. Hermione felt the dragon began to shuffle once more, realising that he might be uncomfortable she aided his mighty 'escape' and placed him upon the bed. He looked up at her and blinked, his eyes shut close and a little sneeze was released… a little sneeze and a very big shower of ice.

"Gah!" Draco shouted, sitting up quickly and viciously rubbing his now cold leg. Hermione grinned and quickly scooped the Dragon back into her shirt, there was no point in scaring the boy further.

"Hermione! What on earth was that for?" The Slytherin huffed, pulling a tight shirt from under his sheets on. A black jacket with fur outlining the hood followed this and a pair of skinny jeans. Noticing the moving lump underneath her garments he asked, "What's under your sweater?"

"A dragon." Hermione replied, a wicked smile across her face.

"Ha, ha. Just keep your blasted 'cat' away from me." Draco then moved over to kiss her cheek.

"Choof!"

"Cold!" Hermione screamed, pulling out her wand to cast a quick warming charm. Little icicles that had formed on her sweater suddenly melted away. Draco's eyes widened considerably as he stepped back, wand raised.

"It's a fucking dragon, isn't it." He said, fingers now rubbing the bridge of his nose excessively. Hermione just grinned and pulled her shirt up to reveal the little devil. Draco felt his chest and other places tighten as lightly tanned skin was uncovered and left exposed. The creature, now missing it's warmth curled against her chest and studied at the paler than usual boy.

"What do we do with it?" he asked after a pause.

"I don't know, Dumbledore?"

"No!" Hermione raised an eyebrow at his protestation.

"Well then Draco," She purred, closing the gap between them. "What do you suggest we do with a baby dragon." The sarcasm was heavily laced and for emphasis, Hermione's lips puckered slightly as she waited for the boy to respond. Draco hid a shiver and outstretched his arms to take the little creature, inspecting his shape and colour.

"These Dragons aren't supposed to be alive anymore." He mused, pulling the creature to his chest.

"So I read, but we couldn't possibly keep it." Draco gestured to walk out of the dormitory, realising how it annoying it would be if someone were to awake. As they walked out Hermione stopped.

"Wait." Carefully she opened the nearest curtains of a bed, revealing Crabbe in a very similar state that Draco had been discovered in.

"Wake up!" She screamed, feeling Draco grab her arm to stop the noise she shrugged him off and gestured to the still asleep boy.

"I found you like this as well, something is seriously wrong." Draco sighed and they continued to walk out of the dormitory.

"Dumbledore it is then."

The stone was noticeably colder as they stepped back into the hall. Two heating charms later and they felt momentary relief. However, the ice now forming on the walls was rather disconcerting. Hermione frowned, something was seriously wrong. Where were all the teachers? What if Dumbledore too was in a sleep? Where does Dumbledore even sleep? The young witch sighed, crossing her arms beneath her chest. Draco started to struggle.

"H-Hey!" he shouted, the little beast wiggled out of the blonde's grasp and began running down the hall. Draco and Hermione shared a look of horror before speeding after him.

"Draco! He couldn't run before!" Hermione shouted, a few metres behind him. His athleticism couldn't have come at a better time as before too long he was running sidelong the escapee.

"Hermione! There's something up ahead." Draco accelerated before skidding to a halt. There, before him on the stone was none other than Fleur Delacour. Her body was half encased in ice; her eyes wide open, pleading.

"'elp…" She whispered, Hermione gasped and immediately fell to her knees. Her wand at the ready.

"Stop!" Shouted Draco throwing himself forward to block the spell. Hermione blinked and realised her foolishness, what was she going to do? Burn the girl? A heating charm wouldn't work for the sudden change in temperature could cause god knows what. The dragon sat and stared, his little eyes looking deeply into Fleur's frightened ones.

"Fleur, we're going to help you." Hermione said, reaching down to feel the ice.

"We need to get the ice off, and then take her back up to one of the commons. It's too cold in the halls, the automatic heating charms have worn off long ago." Draco said, mentally going through a list of spells. Hermione nodded and felt the girl's face, familiar tingles shooting up her arm. The little beast began to twitch, his snout recoiling slightly.

"No!" was shouted in unison.

Choof.

But instead of the little blanket of ice they were accustomed to, little blue flames shot out and engulfed Fleur's body entirely. Just as quickly they disappeared and the ice was gone, Hermione's hand shot out to feel her skin.

"Still cold, he didn't burn her. Draco, carry her. I know a place." Draco nodded and lifted the girl into a bridal position. As they walked along, it was becoming more and more painful. The ice that first began to cover the walls was now creeping onto the floor, causing Hermione to keep a steady hand on Draco in case he slipped. The beast however, was scampering along the halls sliding to and fro. Ecstatic at the indoor winter wonderland.

"First the bloody thing is cold, and now it can't get enough!" Draco said, rolling his eyes and trying to hold back a grin. Hermione smiled briefly before turning her attention back to the French witch. Their eyes rarely lost contact, small smiles briefly exchanged. Suddenly they stopped and a door appeared, Hermione stepped through and a room with a fireplace, a window, three bookcases, a desk and two four-poster beds appeared. Draco gaped and whilst stunned, laid the girl onto the bed.

"What is this place?" He asked, his eyes devouring the room that was almost too good to be true. Little beast ran to the bed Fleur occupied and curled up at the bottom, beady black eyes watching the group.

"It's practical; now help me get her undressed." Draco, who so desperately wanted to grin held it back and began to undo her wet blouse. "What are y-" He stopped as a bra-clad, panties wearing Hermione went under the blankets next to her.

"Human body heat, it's one of the best things you can do." She replied, Fleur weakly nodded and mouthed a 'merci', Hermione just smiled, her face burning with embarrassment. Once the wet clothes were removed, the blankets were replaced and the two girls began to twine together. Fleur moved her leg across Hermione's, her head resting upon a soft chest. Hermione's arm wrapped underneath Fleur's neck, whilst her other held the girl to her. After a few moments, Draco stepped back and walked to the bookcase, noticing the entire shelves were filled with storm related books, cold curses and Hogwarts A History editions. Grimacing, he picked the first book off the shelf and sat at the desk.

Fleur shifted slightly, her eyes lifting to meet Hermione's once more. Hermione smiled and felt the bed move, the beast plodded up to their faces and nestled against Fleur's back.

"Mademoiselle, may I ask 'ou somezing?" Fleur whispered, her fingers grasping a lock of dark hair to twirl. Hermione, who held back a shiver nodded slightly. Fleur's lips pressed together tightly as the words began to formulate in her mind.

"Eez zat a dragon?" Hermione grinned sheepishly and looked over at the beast. It's little head nestled into the sheets.

"It'd like to think so, yes." And they laughed.


End file.
